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Apple may look, sound, and act like the biggest dog on the smartphone block, but Android is a big enough player in the neighborhood that Apple can - and should - respond when appropriate to Andriod's business and marketing strategies. On Monday, in fact, the Huffington Post teed-up a big question poised to confront Apple in 2011: exactly how will Cupertino react to Android's apparent "how low can you go" price cutting efforts? It's a hot discussion that was sparked last week by Fortune magazine:

Tran says that phones made from the BCM2157 chipset will retail for under $100 and may dip as low as $75. Those devices should debut in just 3-6 months (and we might hear about them next month at CES).

If you stop and consider the magnitude of the price reduction, it's a truly substantial cut given that the enormously popular pre-paid Android devices are now running about $180. A further reduction to bring that price below $100 will not only make Android more attractive in the eyes of prospective customers, it could also prompt Apple to revamp its pricing plans.

Realistically, the Android slash would most likely affect Apple's low-end strategy, which - until now - has been to serve up the previous year's model at a price point of $99 (with a two year contract, of course). But the total cost of this "package" still drastically outpaces the deal offered by Android. As a result, Apple may have to cook up a new pricing strategy to mitigate the impact of the $100 (or less) Android.